1. Field
A drinking water supply device capable of supplying mineral water and a method of controlling a drinking water supply device are disclosed herein.
2. Background
In general, a drinking water supply device may be a device that supplies drinking water to a user. The drinking water supply device may be a stand-alone device or may constitute part of an electric home appliance, such as, e.g., a refrigerator.
A drinking water supply device may supply drinking water at room temperature. The drinking water supply device may cool drinking water using a cold water supply unit that includes a refrigeration cycle or may heat drinking water using a hot water supply unit that includes a heater. That is, the drinking water supply device may supply cold water or hot water to a user as needed.
Drinking water may be underground water, raw water or natural water supplied from a faucet, or clean water obtained by filtering raw water. Drinking water may be defined as drinkable water.
Drinking water supply devices may be capable of providing water other than clean water, cold water, or hot water. For example, the drinking water supply device may include a mineral water supply module. The mineral water supply module may provide mineral water that may contain a predetermined amount of minerals to a user.
Minerals may constitute one of five types of nutritional substances along with protein, fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins. Minerals may play an important part in biochemical activity such as, e.g., catalytic activity, in the human body and in the constitution of, for example, the bones and teeth. Mineral elements such as calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na) may be important for metabolism.
Mineral water that may contain these minerals may play a supporting role in improving health, for example, discharging waste matter from the human body and promoting digestion. When a predetermined amount of minerals are in drinking water, the water may taste better than when the user drinks clean water.
To make mineral water in a drinking water supply device, mineral water supply modules, e.g., an electro-analyzer, a mineral filter, and/or a device for directly supplying condensed minerals to clean water, may be applied to the drinking water supply device. The device for directly supplying condensed minerals to clean water may be more compact than other mineral water supply modules.
For example, the mineral water supply module, which may directly supply condensed minerals to clean water, may be configured to have a structure in which minerals discharged from a mineral container in which condensed mineral liquid may be stored may be supplied to a water discharge pipe via a mineral supply pipe.
Conventional mineral water supply modules may have a mineral supply pipe with the same inner diameter as a water discharge pipe. As a result, the amount of minerals supplied may easily vary depending upon a pressure from a pump configured to pressurize the mineral supply pipe. That is, the amount of minerals discharged may change so that the variation in concentration of minerals in mineral water discharged may be high. Thus, the mineral water may taste differently every time a user drinks the water.
When clean water is supplied after mineral water has been discharged, minerals remaining in the mineral supply pipe may be easily introduced into the clean water. As a result, a large amount of minerals may be discharged so that the clean water provided may taste different.
To directly supply condensed minerals to clean water, a mineral container may be provided to store condensed minerals, and a mineral supply line may connect the mineral container and a drinking water supply line to introduce the condensed minerals to drinking water.
The drinking water supply device may have a quantitative control mode in which a predetermined amount of drinking water may be supplied to a user and a real time control mode in which a desired amount of drinking water may be supplied to the user in real time. In the quantitative control mode, the user may input a command through a quantitative control input unit or quantitative controller provided at the drinking water supply device such that the drinking water supply device may supply a predetermined amount of drinking water.
In the real time control mode, the user may use a drinking water discharge button or lever provided at the drinking water supply device instead of inputting a command through the quantitative controller such that the drinking water supply device may supply a desired amount of drinking water to the user in real time.
The user may wish to drink mineral water having a uniform taste regardless of whether the quantitative control mode or the real time control mode may be active. To supply mineral water having a uniform taste to the user, variation in the amount of minerals supplied to drinking water based on the amount of the drinking water may be reduced.
For example, in the quantitative control mode, a valve provided in the mineral supply line may be controlled to be turned on or off for a time when pressure in the mineral supply line may be maintained at a predetermined level so a predetermined amount of minerals or condensed minerals may be supplied to drinking water, e.g., clean water, cold water, or hot water.
If the pressure in the mineral supply line deviates from a predetermined range of pressure, the amount of minerals supplied to drinking water may differ from the predetermined amount of minerals with the result that the mineral water may taste different from a predetermined taste.
In addition, when the pressure in the mineral supply line is lower than the predetermined range of pressure, a pump, e.g., an air pump, may be utilized in order to increase the pressure in the mineral supply line to the predetermined range of pressure.
As mainly a pressure at a specific point in the mineral supply line may be sensed, an average pressure of the entire mineral supply line with a predetermined length may not be obtained. That is, the pressure may be distributed in a longitudinal direction of the mineral supply line with a predetermined length, and an error may occur in sensing the pressure in the mineral supply line due to the distribution of the pressure.
When the pump operates to increase the pressure in the mineral supply line based on the sensed pressure in the mineral supply line, the pressure in the mineral supply line may exceed the predetermined pressure due to various causes, such as, e.g., pump operation time, compression load, and/or the distance between a portion where the pressure is sensed and the pump.
When the pressure in the mineral supply line is higher than the predetermined range of pressure, it may not be possible to reduce the pressure in the mineral supply line through the control of the pump.
In addition, when the mineral container provided in the mineral water supply module is replaced, minerals remaining in the mineral container may flow outside the mineral container if the minerals are not discharged in advance.